Maryland House Speaker Unveils Proposal To Cover 500,000 Uninsured Residents by Expanding Medicaid
Maryland House Speaker Casper Taylor (D) on June 26 unveiled a health reform package that in part would expand health care coverage to 500,000 of the state's uninsured residents by expanding Medicaid, the Baltimore Sun reports. The proposal would:
- Expand income limits for Medicaid from $4,000 a year for an individual to $13,200;
- Subsidize Medicaid coverage on a sliding scale for residents earning between $13,200 and $22,150;
- "Regulat[e] and standardiz[e]" individual insurance to make purchasing coverage "easier for those who can afford" it; and
- Offer tax incentives to employers for offering affordable health coverage to employees.
The Medicaid expansion alone would cost $400 million, with half coming from federal matching funds, Taylor said, but he did not have cost estimates for all of the plan's provisions. About $40 million each year could be generated for the reforms by extending the state's insurance premium tax -- already assessed on most health insurance -- to HMOs, Taylor said, adding that reducing Medicaid benefits and eliminating some unspecified "piecemeal" health programs that he said are no longer needed could create even more funding. The proposal has the backing of the state House leadership, according to Taylor, who plans to "work with local business and employee groups" to revise the plan between now and January. "[T]here should be nothing here that pits labor and management against each other," he added. Mitchell Diamond, president of Fidelity Insurance Co., said, "I don't foresee that the insurance industry would have major objections [to Taylor's plan]." But he noted, the "broad reforms" included in the proposal could pose "a big challenge in a four-year time period" (Salganik, Baltimore Sun, 6/27).
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